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Monday, November 21, 2016

Meat, Smoke and Freedom: A Taste of the Red, White & Que Food Truck

by Chuck P

Back in 2010 it was hard not to find a food truck rolling around the streets of Baton Rouge. These weren’t the old run down, dirty and dingy trucks that once operated everywhere that were affectionately given the title of “roach coaches”. These were clean and well equipped vehicles with names like Taco De Paco, Fleur de Licious, Dolce Vida, Three Bones Catering and by far the most popular food truck, Curbside Burgers.

From lunch pop-ups downtown and Friday night round-ups at Tin Roof to just parking at the entrance of an LSU apartment complex, people were scouring social media trying to find out where their next pit stop would be. The food truck scene thrived...until it didn’t.

In a few short years...it was over.

Taco De Paco changed owners and never seemed to recover. The Dolce Vida pizza trailer was destroyed by a drunk driver and the owner left to open a brick and mortar in New Orleans. Nick Huft, owner of Curbside, also ventured to New Orleans to help open and run the kitchen at Barcadia. Without the powerful following that came with those trucks at events and a lack of organization, the once popping food truck scene had come to a dead stop.

Although there aren’t as many food trucks as long ago, there are a few that still fight the good fight in trying to bring their dishes to the masses. Gone are the food truck round-ups. Nowadays, these trucks can be mostly found at special events like Live After Five or The Baton Rouge Blues Festival or catering private parties. One of the newest trucks in particular I found parked right outside of Brickyard South located right across from the 13th Gate and that is the Red, White & Que truck operated by Kyle Rome.

Kyle’s passion for food started at the early age of 5 when he would stand next to his grandmother in the kitchen. She would let him help with adding ingredients and stirring the stews simmering in her giant cast iron pots. After high school he attended college but soon realized that his mind was on culinary creation and not collegiate studies.

Road House Mac: Pulled Pork, BBQ Sauce and Cracklin' Crumbles

He travelled the south for a while working in different kitchens whenever he could before eventually bringing the skills he learned back home. He created his own dry crawfish boil mix and bought his own trailer to boil crawfish for private parties and company events. Now, after taking a couple of years off from cooking, Kyle decided it was time to return to his true passion. He partnered with his friend Conley Pellerin and his girlfriend Brittany Moreau and the Red, White and Que food truck was born.

Kyle and his team are serving up some really tasty dishes like the Road House Mac with pulled pork, their house BBQ sauce and cracklin’ crumbles, a pork and mac n’ cheese quesadilla, and some really solid tacos such as the Chuck Norris featuring pork and pineapple chutney. The menu also includes nachos, burgers, gumbo and a salad to ensure there’s something here for everyone.

The Chuck Norris Taco: Pulled Pork, Red Onion and Pineapple Chutney

Make sure to follow them on Facebook to find out which Baton Rouge event or late night dive bar they’ll be parked it. Morning, noon or night there’s never a wrong time to support the Red, White and Que.